The Red Tractor Assurance Scheme for pigs has confirmed that all vets registered under the scheme must be members of the Pig Veterinary Society (PVS) from 1 October.
Previously, PVS membership was only required for vets carrying out Real Welfare assessments, but the change has been announced as part of the assurance scheme’s standards review.
Many of the changes included in the review focus on the responsible use of antibiotics, including a requirement to record usage data on eMB-Pigs, while a number of the animal medicine standards have been strengthened.
These include the PVS membership requirement, which is in line with another new standard which will require vets to declare they only prescribe antibiotics for use on Red Tractor pig units in accordance with the PVS Prescribing Principles for Antimicrobials.
Red Tractor technical manager Joanna King said: “Ensuring every Red Tractor registered vet is a PVS member will help keep them abreast of the most recent version of the Prescribing Principles, along with other guidelines and publications.”
Assessors undertaking Red Tractor farm assessments can verify whether the retained farm vet is a current PVS member through their membership number which is required on the quarterly veterinary report forms.
Membership numbers can be checked against an online PVS membership checker.